


Telling People Things

by e_cat



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Coming Out, First Kiss, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-28
Updated: 2014-11-28
Packaged: 2018-02-27 07:53:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2685059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/e_cat/pseuds/e_cat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adam and Ronan are waiting for Gansey at Monmouth. Adam has something important to talk to him about.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Telling Gansey

Ronan was leaning against his doorframe with his head inclined forward, gaze focused on the floor. He couldn’t let himself look up; it would give away too much. He could feel his eyes dancing with emotion that he couldn’t hide – emotion that he didn’t want to be seen.

Adam had been pacing for what felt like forever. Ronan had been following his feet, not daring to move anything other than his eyes. Then, finally, _finally,_ Gansey arrived.

“Gansey!” Adam exclaimed, stopping his pacing immediately. If he hadn’t been ordered to stay silent, Ronan would have pointed out that his voice sounded a little too panicked.

Gansey frowned. “Adam,” he replied, sounding somewhat confused. His gaze flicked to Ronan, who didn’t move, trying his best to imitate an uninvited observer. “What going on?”

“I need to talk to you,” Adam replied. His voice still sounded nervous. Ronan had to give him that one – his own heart was pounding. “It’s about something personal.”

Gansey’s gaze turned on Ronan again, and he frowned. Ronan knew that was meant to get him to leave. Ronan stayed where he was. Even though he’d been invited by Adam, Ronan felt slightly guilty for disobeying Gansey’s wishes. Ronan watched Gansey’s eyes turn back to Adam. Adam didn’t complain about Ronan’s presence, and apparently that was enough for Gansey.

“What’s up?” Gansey asked, a bit of anxiety in his own voice. That was fair, Ronan supposed; Adam did tend to have more difficult personal problems than Gansey was accustomed to.

“I… um… I…” Adam stuttered. Ronan resisted the urge to tell him to just spit it out. It wasn’t as if Ronan could say anything about Adam’s hesitation, anyways; he’d never had this conversation, either.

“Adam?” Gansey prompted. “What’s wrong?”

“I’ve got to tell you something,” Adam said, his voice filled with a desperation to say what he wanted to say, mixed with a hesitation and a sense that he shouldn’t. Ronan felt impatient, but he knew it was just because he wanted this conversation to be over with already. The anticipation was killing him. That wasn’t Adam’s fault. Probably, Ronan should have talked to Gansey about this a long time ago.

Gansey nodded patiently. “Well?”

Nothing was said for a moment, and the only sound was Adam drawing in deep breaths. Then he broke the silence. “I’m bisexual,” Adam spit out suddenly. He gasped slightly, surprised that he’d actually said it out loud. Ronan wondered if he wanted to take it back. There was no going back now.

Gansey raised an eyebrow. “Okay…” he said. “I’m not really sure why you’re telling me this.”

Adam swallowed nervously. Ronan could see that he wanted to start pacing again. With incredible restraint, Adam stayed where he was and continued with his confession. “Well, you see,” he continued nervously, “I might need your help.”

Gansey looked stunned. Ronan, too, had been shocked when Adam had suggested asking Gansey for help. “With… with what?”

“I… um… One of the nuns at St. Agnes caught me.”

“Caught you doing what?” Gansey asked, perplexed. Ronan wondered if he was really so oblivious, or if he was just being polite and not making assumptions.

“Kissing a boy!” Adam exclaimed, exasperated.

Gansey looked at Adam calmly and waited for him to calm down. Ronan could tell that Gansey wasn’t exactly sure why Adam was so worked up about this. “What’s the problem, exactly?” Gansey eventually asked.

“What if they don’t want me living there anymore?” Adam cried, the admission of his fear putting panic into his voice. Ronan wasn’t sure whether Adam’s concerns were legitimate, but he also wasn’t sure that he would be able to go back to the church without anxiety, either.

Gansey frowned. “Did they say that?”

Ronan almost laughed. “Not exactly,” Adam admitted. “I mean, we got the hell out of there. We didn’t exactly want to stick around to see what they were going to say about it.”

Gansey looked at Adam for a long time before something else occurred to him. He glanced at Ronan, who was still studying the floor. “Why are you asking _me_ to help you? Why not Ronan?” Gansey wondered aloud. Ronan had more connections to St. Agnes’, and he was much more suited to scaring people away from their convictions.

Ronan snorted, looking up in defiance of Adam’s instructions. “Who the fuck do you think he was kissing?” Adam shot him a quick glare, but Ronan could see that he was grateful. Ronan was good at being blunt, getting the point out of the way.

Gansey’s eyes widened. He took in the scene before him slowly. Ronan realized belatedly that he and Adam were standing closer than they usually would. It had felt natural. Ronan pushed himself off of the wall and took a single step forward so that he stood next to Adam. He found Adam’s hand without looking. His heart was pounding. He wouldn’t have had to confidence to do this, if it hadn’t been Adam’s idea to tell Gansey.

Gansey’s eyes drifted down to their hands joined together, and then back up to their faces. Ronan’s was defiantly happy. Adam’s features were joyful, too, although there was a bit more anxiety mixed in. He was still waiting for it all to fall apart. Ronan wanted to tell him that it was all going to be okay, but he didn’t feel as though he could manage to do anything but enjoy the feel of Adam’s hand in his.

Gansey still looked surprised, but he was starting to return his face to some sort of normal expression. He looked calmly at the two of them, and the he said simply, “Okay.” And that was that.

Adam squeezed Ronan’s hand, and, suddenly, neither of them cared who was watching. They turned to each other and pressed their lips together for the third time that day. It felt like a promise of more to come.


	2. Telling Ronan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The background of what exactly happened at St. Agnes between Ronan and Adam.

Adam was nervous. It felt like it had been a long time since he’d felt _this_ kind of nervous. It kind of had been – a lot had happened since he’d started dating Blue. And this was different, anyways. Adam wasn’t sure he’d ever been this nervous with Blue. Blue had been someone new; someone he hadn’t been worried about losing as a friend.

“Fucking spit it out, Parrish,” Ronan said harshly, but there was some anxiety in his voice, too. “If you don’t want me here, just say the word and I’ll go.”

Adam shook his head, eyes wide. He didn’t want Ronan to leave. He may have stopped Ronan outside rather than bringing him up to his apartment, but that was because he felt like this conversation needed to be surrendered to the night; set free in the cool air.

Ronan let out an exasperated sigh and waited for Adam to regain the ability to form words. It took him a long time. “I… I know you like me,” Adam managed to spit out eventually, the words barely above a whisper. Ronan could have pretended that he didn’t hear them, but that would have been a lie that was easily disputed by the look on his face. Ronan looked like he’d been slapped – a little stunned, and ready to return the favor.

Now it was Adam waiting for Ronan to be able to speak. Finally, Ronan managed to return his face to its normal derisive expression and said, “Well, shit. And I thought I was hiding it so well.”

Adam blinked. That hadn’t been what he had been expecting Ronan to say. He had expected… he didn’t know. But not that. Not such a careless brush-off of his own feelings.  
Ronan was less patient in waiting for Adam’s words this time. He said, “Christ, Parrish. Fucking say something. What’s your fucking point? You want me to leave you alone? I fucking told you: tell me to go, and I’m gone.” If he looked closely, Adam could still see a little bit of hurt in Ronan’s eyes, like he was begging him, _Don’t tell me to go._

Adam shook his head. “I don’t want you to leave. I just wanted to let you know that I knew, and…” He trailed off. He wasn’t sure how to finish the sentence. The words were escaping his thoughts at the moment, though he’d carefully planned them out. Adam knew that Ronan wasn’t going to make the first move. Adam had more information than Ronan did; it was up to him to decide where they went from here.

Ronan sighed impatiently, waiting for Adam to get himself together. He looked a little more relaxed since Adam hadn’t immediately told him to go, but there was still a great deal of fear in his eyes.

Adam swallowed nervously. He had to get this out _right now._ There was no other option than to just say it. “I like you, too,” he whispered to the ground.

Ronan was stunned again. He looked like he was sure he must have heard wrong. Adam was surprised that he’d heard him at all. “What?” Ronan asked. His voice did not have a hint its usual sarcasm.

Adam looked up into Ronan’s eyes. “I fucking like you too, okay?”

Ronan blinked. Then he took a step forward. He hesitated, looking at Adam. _Is this okay?_ His eyes seemed to ask. _What’s next?_

Adam rolled his eyes – did he have to do _all_ the work? Then he closed the distance between them and kissed Ronan.

The kiss was far better than Adam had imagined it would be. Ronan was as passionate as he’d predicted, but also surprisingly gentle. Ronan lost his fingers in Adam’s hair, and Adam lost any sense of time in Ronan’s lips. The world seemed to fall away.

Then there was a gasp and the world came crashing back. Adam and Ronan sprang apart and Adam felt his eyes widen at the image of a shocked nun staring right at them. Before he could even think about how to react, Ronan had grabbed his hand and was pulling him down the street.

They stood against a wall, catching their breath, when Ronan started laughing. “What the hell?” Adam asked.

Ronan looked at him, grinning and laughing. He looked alive. Adam watched him for a second before he realized that he, too, felt alive. There was something so thrilling about running away like that, like it was them against the world. There was something hilarious about it, too, although Adam couldn’t say what it was. So Adam started laughing, too.

The two of them laughed hysterically for a long time, staring into each other’s eyes; building off of each other’s laughter. Then, suddenly, the laughing turned into kissing, and they were pressed closely together. Adam was happier than he thought he could possibly be right now, with everything that was going on.

This time, it was a need for oxygen that forced them apart. They stood gasping, hands on each other’s faces. Ronan’s eyes were wide, and Adam knew that his probably were, too. “So,” Adam whispered, “what now?”

Ronan dropped his hands and stepped back, forcing Adam to drop his as well. He seemed suddenly uncertain of himself. “I don’t know, Adam,” he said. “Whatever you want to do.”

Adam blinked. “I… I guess that we have a lot to figure out.” Adam was not used to being in charge. Adam was not used to Ronan letting _anyone_ be in charge.

Ronan nodded slowly. “Like what?”

“Like… like what are we even doing?” Adam exclaimed. “Are we dating now? Are we telling anyone? And, what are they going to say at St. Agnes? Are they going to kick me out? Are they going to tell you to stop coming? I mean, what the hell happens next, Ronan?”

Ronan looked at Adam calmly. “This is whatever you want to make it. I can deal with this being a serious relationship, or I can deal with going back to being friends,” Ronan said. Adam wasn’t sure he could say the same; now that he had had a taste of Ronan, he didn’t think he could go back. “As for the rest of it…” Ronan shrugged. “I guess we’ll figure it out.”

Adam nodded and started pacing. “I… Gansey.”

“Gansey?” Ronan repeated incredulously. It was clearly not what he had been expecting Adam to say. It wasn’t what Adam had expected to say, either.

Adam nodded. “We’ll tell Gansey what happened. If they’re going to be upset with us at St. Agnes, he can talk them out of it.” It was probably true; Gansey could be very convincing. The part they didn’t discuss was whether Gansey would be willing to help. Surely, they both believed that Gansey cared about them enough to help, but there was still that doubt deep inside.

Ronan looked at Adam for a moment. Then he nodded. “Okay,” he said. “We’ll tell Gansey.”

Adam smiled gratefully. He knew that, for all Ronan had said about being okay with whatever Adam wanted to do, it was just as hard, if not harder, for him to contemplate telling all this to Gansey. They started back to Ronan’s car, still in the parking lot of St. Agnes. “When we talk to Gansey,” Adam said, “you let me do the talking.”


End file.
